Bung forming apparatus



May 19, 1942- G. w. LAwToN 2,283,331

BUNG FORMING APPARATUS Filed July 18, 1938 .IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Pafwu||||||||||||iimmllllnm /Tu Jl-BY i WMA WMATTORNEYS.

Patented May 19, 1.942

The United States Bung Manufacturing Com-V pany, CincnnatLrOhio, Aacorporation of New York Appiicaunjmy 1s, 1938, serial No. '219,816 Y 2Claims. (cuni-284) This invention relates to improvements in apparatusfor making compressed, tapering wood bungs for barrels, drums, and thelike.

The bung is formed by compressing a cylindrical wood blank between thecurved surface of a stationary die and the periphery of a revolving rollconcentric with'the die surface,

whereby the frictional contact of the blank with the periphery of theroll and the opposing die surface imparts a rolling motion to the blank,which motion compresses the blank equally on all points of its peripheryas it advances from an inlet to a discharge end. p

In the present apparatus the blankis traversed through a plurality ofdifferently gaugeddie and roller units interconnected for advancing ortransferring the blank from one unit to a second to progressivelycompress the blank from its original blank diameter to its final gaugemeasurement and taper. Each unit compresses the blank a determineddegree which is constant but progressive as the blank advances fromoneunit to another until, upon final discharge from the terminal unit,the blank has attained the exact degree of taper desired. f

It has been an object of thepresent inventor to provide an apparatus forrapidly and efflciently making Wooden bungs, which apparatuscontinuously passes the bungs through a series of compressingoperations, each of which operations accentuates the degree of taperprovided by the previous operation until at the conclusion of the naloperation, the bung hasja degreeof taper predeterminedvat the outset. jY I p It has been anotherobject of the present inventor to provide anapparatus for compressing a cylindrical bung blank by a series ofgradual and progressive operations in order to avoid the inaccurate andoftimes injurious results attending the substantially universal practiceof providing the taper by the single operation of ramming theVcylindrical bung blank into a cup-shaped diev under great pressure.

It has been a still further object of the presentv inventor to apply ataper to a cylindrical bung blank through an apparatus providing aseries of compression operations, each of which applies the pressuredirectly and uniformly to the sides of the blank, the degree of taperbeing increased in each succeeding operation.

The method disclosed and described here is claimed in a copendingdivisional application iiled March 20, 1941, and bearing Serial No.384,390.

Various other advantages' and features of the invention will be morefully set forth in the description of the accompanying drawing-inwhich.'

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the bung forming rapparatus with ahinge closure for the raceway of two-of the compressing units, of athree unit assembly, in open position. y

Figure 2 is an end view of the apparatus. y Figure 3 Iis a section oniline 3-3 of Figure l. Heretofore compressed taper bungs for barrelsgenerally have been made by, turning or cutting out a cylindrical blankfrom a board material and pressing the blank into a hollowcup-shapeddie. Another method of giving a bung a tapering form has beenby rolling the bung blank between bevel bottomed .grooves or havingbeveled Opposing walls either straight or curved longitudinally andlconverging both longitudinally and transversely with the degree ofconvergence increasing from one end to the other. The first method isv avery harsh one which has a tendency to split the blanks and, at thebest, results in an inaccuraterbung,while the second method has atendency to compress the cylindrical blankunevenly and` to providel abung in which the inner end is slightly oval in cross section and which,accordingly, does not make an efficient seal for av cir cular opening. Ai

Referring to the drawing, Figure l discloses Vari/assembly of threeunits of similarconstruction in superimposed arrangement and adapted totransport or transfer the 'bung from voneunit to another by gravity,each unit effecting a relatively different degree of compression of thebung as itis transformed from its original cylindrical blank form,`to afinished bung having a predetermined degree of taper. `Each unitincludes a Y sufficient length of raceway to permitrepeated revolutionsof the blank under a uniform degree of compression for the full lengthof the way, so that as the blank leaves the raceway,4the degree vrofcompression will be substantially .uniform at allpoints cn theperiphery. The number of units orstages is optional, depending upon thedegree of compression required to reduce the same from its originaldiameter to its finished diameter, or

degree of taper, and depending also on the hard- Y.

' y a circular recess with its wall 2 tapered or beveled to constitute aconcave stationary die which cooperates with the tapered periphery of arotatable roll 3 spaced from the wall 2 and provides a raceway forreceiving and compressing a cylindrical blank or disk by the rotation ofthe roll and impetus of the disk caused by its frictional contact withthe periphery of the rotating roll, thereby rotating the diskV andadvancing the same through the raceway. The opposing disk compressingwalls of the raceway are uniformly' spaced for approximately the entirelength of the raceway. The raceway is of Aa length suffy cient topermitone or several complete revolutions of the disk to insure auniform compression.

As illustrated, the length of the raceway may be approximately one-halfof the circumference of the roll 3 so that the entrance and exit endsare diametrically disposed vertically, with Vthe entrance 4 at the topand the exit 5 at the botf tom. This Varrangement permits the disk to beassisted by gravity in its passage through the raceway to the dischargeend of one unit which, in the case of all units but the last, coincideswith the entrance to the raceway of the next unit.

The path of the raceway deects tangentially at the entrance and-exitpoints and is defined at these points by filler blocks 66, fixed withinthe way and rigidly secured to the plate I. As shown, each filler blockcompletely fills the gap between the stationary die wall 2 and theperiphery of the roll 3.

The front or face side of the way is sealed by a closure ring 1 hingedlymounted upon the front side of the plate I so that it can be swung to anis fixed upon the shaft I intermediate of the front and rear plates andpreferably is of a diameter to permit its teeth to mesh with acorresponding gear of a second unit to entrain the gears of a series ofunits, the end gear of the train being in mesh with a driving-gear I4driven from any suitable source.

By this method of gear train transmission, the

gear I3 of one unit rotates in an alternate direc.

tion from that of its next adjoining unit or units which permits therelative positioning of the several units so that the blanks follow aserpentine course as they pass from one vunit to another, and no sharpcorners which might obstruct their passage are presented at any point inthe course.

The entrance end of the assembly may be provided with any suitableconductor means for transporting the disks to the raceway opening, andcorresponding receiving means may be provided at the discharge end.

Upon placing a bung blank of cylindrical form into the raceway atv thetop of the apparatus, transformation of its shape is commenced as soonas it comes into cooperation with the roll 4 and stationary die surfacel2 of the face unit. As it is advanced by the rotation of the roll, itwill be subjected to a relatively uniform pressure during its passagethrough the raceway and, as it leaves, will have been tapered to adegree corresponding to the taper of the raceway walls.

In the'preferred operation of the apparatus, `the width of the racewayat each stage of the operation coincides almost exactly with the widthof the bung blank as it reaches this stage.

o convex) than the degree of taper of the bung blankjso that in thepreferred operation of the apparatus the bung blank will not passthrough the raceway solely by means of gravity, but will require theimpetus imparted to it by the rotation of the roll. In the commercialoperation of the apparatus it is preferable to provide a width ofraceway which will permitthe bung blanks to move smoothly andevenlyldown the course, but still, yto sufficiently conne the -blanks sothat a determined degree Aof compression will be applied to them by therevolution of the roll.

Further advantages of the invention reside in the fact that thecompression is imparted entirely to the sides of the blanks insteadfofpartially to one end,.as is the case with bungs which are forced into acup shaped-die. Also, the application of pressure in stages tends toprovide avmuch more accurate degree of taper, as when the taper isapplied in a single operation, the wood will have a tendency to springback and resume its normal position after the loperation has beencompleted. It has been found in'practice that in the case of bungstapered-'in accordance with the present invention the wood will tend tospring back only about one-third as much as bungs which have beentapered 'by the cup shaped die method.

By the method and apparatus of the invention,

a large number of blankscan be operated uponat the same time, as theblanks may be continuously fed into the apparatus. The completed bungswill be found to have a high degree of uniformity of taper :while theculls `are kept to a Vminimum because the degree of compression obtainedby any single operation is seldom suiiicient to crack or split theblanks.

The ller blocks AI--S define a passageway between the successivelforming passageways. This passageway is of a width slightly greaterthan the greatest width of the forming passageway from which the blanksare discharged. Referring rto the drawing, it will be observed that'thespace between the related Aller blocks S-' is slightly greaterthanthespacebetween the lines I5-I5 representing the widest portion ofthe forming passageway in each instance. Since the machine stands invertical position (see the ground line indicated -in Figures land 2),the bung'blanks will roll by-gravity between the filler plates and willlthere be relieved of compressive force vprior to being engaged by andpassed through the forming-die inthe nextcompressing stage. 1 e

Having described my invention, I claim:

l. Apparatus for -compressing the sides of a cylindrical bung blank in aseries of distinct units Iiri'spaced relationship, each unit comprisinga base plate, a revolving roll journalled in the base plate, a curveddie surface projecting from the base plate exterior of the roll andspaced therefrom and removable means positioned over the space betweenthe outer periphery of the roll and the inner edge of the die surface toform therewith a completely enclosed passageway, the passageway being ofuniform width throughout any single unit but progressively narrower insucceeding units, the passageway in each unit being connected to thepassageway in the preceding unit by an extension portion of not lesswidth than the passageway in the preceding unit, said extension portionbeing formed from separate surfaces between which the bungs are adaptedto pass by gravity, said separate surfaces being spaced apart a distanceslightly greater than the widest portion of the preceding completelyenclosed passageway so as to permit the bungs to pass freely by gravityfrom one completely enclosed passageway to the next, whereby a distinctcompressing action is applied to the bung in each individual unit butthe compression is relieved as the bung passes from unit to unit.

2. Apparatus for compressing the sides of a cylindrical bung blank in aseries of distinct stages, said apparatus comprising a plurality ofunits in spaced relationship, each unit comprising a base plate, arevolving roll journalledin the base plate, a curved die surfaceprojecting from the base plate exterior of the roll and spaced therefromand removable means positioned overk the space between the outerperiphery of the roll and the inner edge of the die surface to formtherewith a completely enclosed passageway, the passageway being ofuniform width throughout any single unit but progressively narrower insucceedingunits, the periphery of the roll and the die surface of eachunit providing a passageway of constant taper throughout, eachsucceeding passageway being of slightly greater taper,.the passageway ineach unit being connected to the passageway in the preceding unit by anextension portion, said extension portion being formed from separatesurfaces between which the bungs are adapted to pass by gravity, saidseparate spaces being spaced apart a distance slightly greater than thewidest portion of the preceding completely enclosed passageway so as topermit the bungs to pass freely by gravity from one completely enclosedpassageway to the next, whereby a distinct compressing action is appliedto the bung in each individual unit but the compression is relieved asthe bung passes from unit to unit.

GEORGE W. LAWTON.

